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books and ebooks
Geeky Mom is considering an e-reader, which inspired me to update my Kindle review now that I've been using it for 7 months.
- I'm still doing a lot of work reading on it, and I've mostly stopped converting pdfs to Kindle format. My eyesight is good enough to read the tiny print, although with effort, and it's worth it not to have the footnote showing up in the middle of a sentence and the tables totally scrambled.
- I love it for the metro and for traveling light. The ability to be stuck on the tarmac and buy the next book on your to-do list is definitely worth it. (As far as I see, this is the only downside of the wifi only version of the Kindle. I wonder when someone will figure out a way to let you download books onto the kindle using a cell phone.)
- Most of the books I read are still print, because most of the books I read come from the library.
- Kindle editions of new hardcovers are a lot cheaper than list price, but typically only a few bucks more than Amazon sells them for. I think I want to to take Tana French's new book, Faithful Place, with me on vacation, but am leaning towards buying it in print so I can pass it on to my mother.
- As I read more fiction on the Kindle, I'm surprised at how annoying I find it not to be able to easily flip back to the previous chapter to remind myself of who a character is. Ebooks are more like scrolls than books — and there's a reason no one reads scrolls anymore.


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
The Levellers, such as John Lilburne (1615-1657), Richard Overton (1631-1664), and William Walwyn (c. 1600-1681), were a group of radical libertarian activists and pamphleteers who were active during the English Revolution. They advocated individual liberty, property rights, constitutionally limited government, religious toleration, and free trade at a time when virtually none of these things existed in England. For their troubles, several of them were repeatedly imprisoned and their publications censored.
For more information see the main author pages listed below as well as:
For more information about our seven volume collection of Leveller Tracts see:
The full collection: Tracts on Liberty by the Levellers and their Critics (1638-1660), 7 vols. Edited by David M. Hart and Ross Kenyon (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2014-15).
It consists of the following:
Publishing information about each title can be found in the catalog of the George Thomason collection (henceforth "TT" for Thomason Tracts). Each tract is given a catalog number and a date when the item came into his possession (thus not necessarily the date of publication). We have used these dates to organise our collection in rough chronological order:
Catalogue of the Pamphlets, Books, Newspapers, and Manuscripts relating to the Civil War, the Commonwealth, and Restoration, collected by George Thomason, 1640-1661. 2 vols. (London: William Cowper and Sons, 1908).
Biographical information about the authors can be found in the Biographical Dictionary of British Radicals in the Seventeenth Century, ed. Richard L. Greaves and Robert Zeller (Brighton, Sussex: The Harvester Press, 1982-84), 3 vols.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle and Manceaux) Nicolle and Manceaux (ATCC® 50853™) Strain Designations: GT1-F3 [strain synonym = GT1] / Depositor: LD Sibley / Biosafety Level: 2 General Information Characteristics Culture Method History Documentation Print Email Share Share this product Facebook Twitter Google+ Permits and Restrictions View Permits Deposited As Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle and Manceaux) Nicolle and Manceaux Strain Designations GT1-F3 [strain synonym = GT1] Application Food and waterborne pathogen researchOpportunistic pathogen research Biosafety Level 2 Biosafety classification is based on U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines, it is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that their facilities comply with biosafety regulations for their own country. Isolation Skeletal muscle of a goat, USA, 1980; cloned by D. Sibley in 1995 Product Format frozen Storage Conditions Frozen Cultures:-70°C for 1 week; liquid N2 vapor for long term storageFreeze-dried Cultures:2-8°CLive Cultures:See Protocols section for handling information Type Strain no Genotype Haplogroup 1 Comments Clonal lineage Growth Conditions Temperature: 35°C to 37°CCell Line: ATCC® CRL-1634™ (human foreskin fibroblasts) (Contact ATCC Sales to order) Cryopreservation Harvest and Preservation To harvest the Toxoplasma culture, detach any remaining tissue culture cells (infected and uninfected) by scraping the surface of the flask with a cell scraper. Transfer the cell suspension (including parasites) to 15 mL plastic centrifuge tubes. Centrifuge at 1300 x g for 10 min. Remove all but 0.5 mL of the supernatant from each tube, resuspend the cell pellets, and pool them to a single tube. Pass the resulting cell suspension through a syringe equipped with a 27 gauge 1/2 in needle to break up any remaining cells. Adjust the parasite concentration to 2.0 - 4.0 x 107 cells/mL with fresh medium or PBS. NOTE: If the concentration of parasites is too low, centrifuge at 1300 x g for 10 min and resuspend in the volume of fresh medium or PBS required to yield the desired concentration. Prepare a cryoprotective solution containing 15% (v/v) DMSO and 50% (v/v) HIFBS in fresh medium or PBS. Mix the cell preparation and cryoprotective solution in equal portions. The final concentration will be 1.0 - 2.0 x 107 cells/mL, 7.5% DMSO, and 25% HIFBS. The time from the mixing of the cell preparation and cryoprotective solution to the start of the freezing process should be no less than 15 min. and no more than 30 min. NOTE: To prevent culture contamination, penicillin-streptomycin solution (ATCC® 30-2300) may be added to a final concentration of 50 to 100 I.U./mL penicillin and 50 to 100 µg/mL streptomycin. Dispense in 0.5 mL aliquots to 1.0-2.0 mL sterile plastic screw-capped cryules (special plastic vials for cryopreservation). Place vials in a controlled rate freezing unit. From room temperature cool at -1°C/min to -40°C. If freezing unit can compensate for the heat of fusion, maintain rate at -1°C/min through heat of fusion. At -40°C plunge ampules into liquid nitrogen. Alternatively, place the vials in a Nalgene 1°C freezing apparatus. Place the apparatus at -80°C for 1.5 to 2 hours and then plunge ampules into liquid nitrogen. (The cooling rate in this apparatus is approximately -1°C/min.) Store frozen ampules in either the vapor or liquid phase of a nitrogen refrigerator. To thaw a frozen ampule, place it in a 35°C water bath such that the lip of the ampule remains above the water line. Thawing time is approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Do not agitate the ampule. Do not leave ampule in water bath after thawed. Immediately after thawing, aseptically transfer contents to a T-25 tissue culture flask containing a fresh monolayer of ATCC® CRL-1634™ cells and 10 mL ATCC® 30-2002 with 3% (v/v) HIFBS. Outgas the flask for 10 seconds with a 95% air, 5% CO2 gas mixture. Incubate in a 35-37°C CO2 incubator with the cap screwed on tightly. Name of Depositor LD Sibley Special Collection NCRR Contract Chain of Custody ATCC <-- LD Sibley <-- JP Dubey Year of Origin 1980 References Howe DK, Sibley LD. Toxoplasma gondii comprises three clonal lineages: correlation of parasite genotype with human disease. J. Infect. Dis. 172: 1561-1566, 1995. PubMed: 7594717 Sibley LD, Boothroyd JC. Virulent strains of Toxoplasma gondii comprise a single clonal lineage. Nature 359: 82-85, 1992. PubMed: 1355855 Dubey JP. Mouse pathogenicity of Toxoplasma gondii isolated from a goat. Am. J. Vet. Res. 41: 427-429, 1980. PubMed: 7369619 Su C, et al. Identification of quantitative trait loci controlling acute virulence in Toxoplasma gondii. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 10753-10758, 2002. PubMed: 12149482 L D Sibley, personal communication Khan A, et al. Recent transcontinental sweep of Toxoplasma gondii driven by a single monomorphic chromosome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104: 14872-14877, 2007. PubMed: 17804804 Permits These permits may be required for shipping this product: Customers located in the state of Hawaii will need to contact the Hawaii Department of Agriculture to determine if an Import Permit is required. A copy of the permit or documentation that a permit is not required must be sent to ATCC in advance of shipment. Basic Documentation Product Sheet Certificate of Analysis SDS


text:
I have a menu item that loads a Window. The problem is every time I click the menu item it loads a new instance of the same Window. This may corrupt my database so I need only one Window open.
I had a fix for this in Windows Forms but since WPF Windows do not implement IDisposable it does not work.
Here is my Windows Forms code. How do I do this with WPF?
Code:Class private FormAssociates frmAssoc = null; MenuItem Handler If ((frmAssoc == null) || (frmAssoc.IsDisposed()) { frmAssoc = new FormAssociates(); frmAssoc.Owner = this; frmAssoc.Show(); } else { // cannot bring a form to front if it is minimized... frmAssoc.WindowState = WindowState.Normal; frmAssoc.BringToFront(); }


text:
Seniors Bingo
On 30.08.2019
12:45 pm - 2:00 pm Save to calendar
Eastern Goldfields Community Centre
Cost: Small fee & membership of the Community Centre required
Categories: Featured Events
Seniors Bingo is on every Friday at 12.45pm at the Community Centre (next to the library) and they'd love to see some new faces.
For further enquiries and to sign up as a member, phone 9021 9800 or visit the Community Centre at 13 Roberts Street, Kalgoorlie between 8am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday.
Lunch is also available for purchase at 12pm.


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February 10, 2009
Starting a Genealogy and Family Hope Chest
I am sure that many of us have such treasured items. Even if we have no family heirlooms we have our genealogy research and papers. I've learned that when a loved one dies, it is not always easy, or possible, to preserve precious documents or heirlooms. Even if saved, how and when does one pass them on to others?
It should be easy. You save everything you think is worth saving, and immediately decide you are passing everything on. Done - not your problem anymore. But wait! Who says the folks you want to pass these treasures on to are prepared to accept them. I'm learning it's not as easy as you might think.
Will Others Treasure Your Treasures?
Another scenario - you have family treasures that you enjoy so you don't want to pass them on to others now, but you want to be sure they go to other family members when you are gone. That's even more difficult to guarantee.
There are logistics involved in passing on family heirlooms and genealogy papers. If you expect your journals to be kept for the next hundred years or more, you should be thinking ahead to the problems future generations might encounter. People move. Families split up. Your great-grandson might treasure your journals but his wife may think they are just taking up space and getting musty and dirty. You might have so many journals that they become scattered and lost.
What about Great grandma's wedding ring? How will you ensure that is passed on and its history known and shared?
Your great-uncle's Military Medals and papers - is it really logical to think that a jumbled mass of documents with some tarnished medals is still going to be kept all together by one descendant and its provenance still remembered?
Who Wants Your Masses of Genealogy Papers!
And your genealogy papers and records that take up 4 filing cabinet drawers or 10 binders. Who on earth is going to want to store those? Even if you have a son or daughter ready and willing, what are the chances that the next generation will accept those 4 filing cabinets of papers and store them safely?
Who Will Carry the Torch?
I've been giving this a lot of thought over the past year and even more so since my mother passed away. As the unofficial keeper of the family photos and treasures in my family, I need to make sure that everything I love and hold dear will go on to the people I think most apt to pick up the torch and continue to cherish them.
I thank my lucky stars that my grandmother passed on most of her cherished heirlooms to me when I was a teenager. She saw an interest from me and she leapt at the opportunity to tell me the stories of who owned each item and what it meant to her.
It must have been difficult for her to let them go in her lifetime but it was a very wise step on her part. Had she waited, it is unlikely many would have been saved when she died, as no one but me knew their significance. And I was many miles away with no say over who in the family was given any mementoes.
Develop a Plan
So I have developed a plan - a Genealogy & Family Hope Chest - for helping to ensure that treasured family items and genealogy papers do get passed on and cherished by others. I call it a Genealogy & Family Hope Chest because you cannot of course guarantee that what you consider important to pass on will be preserved and passed on by others. All you can do is hope. But along with that hope you can take steps to maximize the possibility that what you want will happen!
Step 1
Let's start with Step 1 of the Genealogy & Family Hope Chest
First, make a list. Yes, sit down today and make a list of all the family treasures and heirlooms that you have in your possession.
Beside each item, write a brief description of its provenance - who owned it and how old it is, and how and when it came into your possession. Take a photograph of it or scan it. Do this for each cherished item you have.
Print the photos. You can print 4 to a page or 6 to a page, or print each separately. It's up to you. Make sure you clearly label each photo with the name and brief description of what it is. Yes, you're duplicating your list you just created, but in a visual format.
You now have a written or printed list of family heirlooms with a description of each. You also have a photo of each family heirloom clearly labelled and described.
Put one copy of the list and photos in your Safety Deposit Box (if you have one) This is just to safeguard against losing the other copy!
The other copy (list plus photos) should go in a manilla envelope marked "FOR MY EXECUTORS" and placed where your Executor(s) will remember to go to first. You have written a will and appointed executor(s) haven't you? Phone your executor(s) and tell them where you are putting this envelope and what is in it. (You should already have such an envelope which contains instructions on what you want done with your remains, where your safety deposit box is, a list of bank accounts, lawyer's name etc but that's a topic for another blog post)
This is the Family part of your Hope Chest, don't worry about your Genealogy papers just now. We'll get to those later. You can have a break now and relax. I'll talk about Step 2 of a Genealogy & Family Hope Chest in my next blog post. I think you will find Step 2 is a lot of fun!
6 comments:
- Gini said...
Great idea, I have been thinking alot about this too, I look forward to your part 2 post on the "Genealogy Family Hope Chest"
Thank you...
- Becky Jamison said...
This is a wonderful idea and very workable. Thank you so much! I'm going to follow it to the letter! I'll be watching for the next step!
- Sally J. (Practical Archivist) said...
Fantastic *real world* problem solving. Bravo!
- Robin said...
Thank you for taking the time to do this. One of the reasons, I started my genealogy blog, is for my children. They spend 90% of their time online and they have watched me work on our family tree and start the blog. They are starting to ask question even at their "young, uninterested" ages. Each day they do become a litte more interested even if to satisfy me in order for me to cook dinner, wash clothes or whatever they may want from me... LOL I actually do think they are someone curious. I have several items of no value to anyone but me, but hopefully one day they will take the time to wonder and explore... Im going to start this hope chest this week.
- BDM said...
Excellent advice, Lorine. You've inspired me to review my Treasure List and get the camera out. It won't happen all in one day, of course, but thanks for the boost!
Pretty interesting place you've got here. Thanks for it. I like such themes and everything connected to them. I definitely want to read more soon.


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Collection S/S 2018
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The riding child's breeches of the new Animo Pony Division collection are made of fabric, practical and durable, and products in a wide range of colors and decorations for all tastes. All models are equipped with the patented Animo Gripping System (AGS) applied inside the knee. Also available in white color are suitable for competition.


text:
Sof Sole Men's Size 7-12 Gel Support Stability Insole Accessories (Assorted) - Size 0.0 OT
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How (not) to write (Drupal) documentationMonday, April 30th, 2012
I was going to write a very angry and very long post about documentation, about how documentation is provided generally and why it doesn't work. About the kind of mentality that drives programmers to again and again write documentation that drives other developers crazy. I wanted to give a couple of examples taken from the 2 open source projects that I have easy at hand: Drupal and YAHOO! YUI. And I was getting more and more angry as I ploughed my way through my current Drupal project. Then I realized that it would not have done much good to pour out my wrath onto the waves of the net just to add frustration to more frustration. So I decided to do something more constructive and possibly to enhance the net with a piece of documentation as I would have liked it.
I hope though that someone will also get the point of why documentation should be done differently.
How (not) to write documentation
In brief, I've come to the conclusion that there are two major reasons why documentation generally sucks:
- Wrong assumption about who is using it
- A bottom up approach
Often the 2 reasons are both present
1. Wrong assumptions
It is understandable that it is difficult to guess who the reader might be, the reader on internet might be anyone and in many cases she or he will belong to the "wrong" target. However, statistically that should leave me with a great amount of docs that are all too easy to use, as I'm no longer a novice, I'm no longer an intermediate, well yes I'm pretty seasoned and been through a lot. How come then that it still happens to me to use way too much time to find what it appears to me as the sheer basics in order to be able to use a piece of software.
Often there are just no assumptions at all about who the user is, the authors just spit out all what they have in their mind in the hope that the more the better (no it is not like that, I know, but it feels like that).
2. Bottom up
Bottom up approach is given naturally by the use of documentation systems (javadoc, doxygen, phpdoc you name it). It's fine and swell, all your functions and methods are there on the web, all class relationships are documented. That's great, you didn't forget any field and neglect any method or class, then it is complete.
What are you complaining about?
What am I complaining about? The contributors have also written lots of examples from where you can monkey code all the way, "cause you are a monkey aren't you?"
Actually I am a control freak, I want to know why I'm doing what I'm doing, I want to know that what I'm doing cannot be done another way and, if it can be done differently, that there is a reason why I'm doing it this way and not the other.
Also, I want only to do what is absolutely necessary, not one line more, no more complexity than it is required by my goals. To be able to do this I don't need to be told how to do this and that (although that also comes in handy).
Where are stairs, elevators and ramps?
What I need, is to have an overview of the whole system; I need to know the architecture.
When I know that the building has both elevators and staircases, I can decide by myself whether or not I need to know the staircase dimensions or the elevator's capacity to choose the one or the other. Telling me every single detail about, say, the elevator, won't do any good, if you don't let me know that there is also a staircase, and maybe even a ramp all around the building. Still less useful will be to describe the bricks the building is made of, or the wonderful new material the whole thing is built with.
When I have this knowledge (elevator/staircases), only then it will be interesting to know the elevator door orientation or whether the staircase is straight or spiral and all the other details. And one thing is for sure, what I need to know will always proceed from general to particular aspects. Top down, not bottom up. Following a hierarchy, not a sequence of topics, however systematic it may be.
I find the building metaphor pretty good to use as a double check to see whether your documentation project is living up to my (or many's?) expectations.
Now, what triggered my anger this time was the need to write a Drupal module. There are gazillions of pages on the Drupal site that document Drupal, and yet I'm not satisfied.
And it seems I'm not alone (some examples here):
"…and the documentation was sparse at best, so it took me quite a bit of digging to find that it was really this simple to do…"
"…Its sad to say that I seem to learn more from people's blogs like this than from the official docs / handbook…"
"…After 2 hours of digging around, sorting through posts with no replies, and getting quite frustrated, I found out what I wanted could be done in just a few lines of code very easily…."
Here is how I would have expected to find some documentation about: How To Write And Manage A Drupal Module (link to new article to come in a very near future).


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- Our project managers are data collection experts, and will ensure that your study is completed time-efficiently while maintaining high data quality.
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- For short surveys targeting a straightforward audience, our nationally representative omnibus surveys may offer an especially cost efficient solution.
Tracking Studies
In an ever-accelerating business world, it becomes harder to keep pace with the dynamics or even leave an impact on the market development. We combine our rigorous quality standards with a dedicated personal service to give your tracking study a competitive edge.
We help you to...
- keep track with the general development
- observe the competitive environment
- benchmark your own performance against it
- prove the impact of your marketing spending
- learn what works best
- identify opportunities early on
We have been working with Norstat for more than a year now on national as well as international studies and are extremely satisfied. The data has a high quality and gives us valuable impulses for our company management. In addition, we note that Norstat's team discusses with us at eyeslevel and provides valuable information on project setup and study design. Timings are always crisp with us as we are a stock-listed company, but Norstat has never disappointed us. Paired with a lot of fun in a partnership-based customer relationship, this makes Norstat our number 1 choice.
Client Panels
We can help you to build and maintain a client panel. This will allow you to interact continuously with your customers and brand advocates - an excellent means to better understanding the needs and deliver services and products that are relevant.
- Based on your target group definition, we can recruit panel members from your internal data base or external sources.
- While guiding respondents through the recruitment process, we profile them and enrich the profiles with variables from your existing database.
- Keeping panel members motivated is key for a lively community, and this is something we have considerable expertise on. We will help you maintain your panel, managing incentives and engaging with passive members.
- Our highly skilled support team will help keep your panel satisfied and motivated.
- The technical infrastructure will be provided by us, and we will supply all sampling, fieldwork and scripting services.
- All of your panel interfaces can of course be branded, from surveys to e-mail invites and dashboards.
Norstat Dashboards
Control the act of accessing, analyzing and reporting data with an intuitive interface. Obtain a comprehensive overview for your business, monitor your KPIs in one place and make more informed decisions.
- You can access, analyse and report data with an intuitive interface and get all KPIs in one place
- Share information with colleagues and clients
- Export all dashboards in a PDF or PNG format


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New 1 oz 2019 Australian Kookaburra Silver Coin
Purchase your 1 oz 2019 Australian Kookaburra silver coin from our online store today, for the lowest price on the net. Perth Mint brings us the 2019 addition to their popular Kookaburra series, featuring new designs on both the reverse and the obverse!
The breathtaking reverse design features a watery landscape where a kookaburra awaits the sunset, perched atop a protruding tree stump, with an island of reeds and a tree in the field. Also on the reverse, the coin's title, year of issue, metal weight, content and purity, set within a light border around the feature.
The obverse feature is Jody Clark's brand new, detailed effigy of Elizabeth II in profile, seen wearing her magnificent State Diadem. Also on the reverse, Elizabeth II's name, along with the country of origin and the coin's unique denominational value.
The Australian Laughing Kookaburra is not only a sight synonymous with the Australian outback, it's also the largest species of all the kingfishers, reaching up to 17" or 42 centimetres in length. Celebrate the beautiful native fauna of Australia and diversify your holdings with a 1 oz 2019 Australian Kookaburra silver coin today.
Multiples of 20 will ship in a Perth Mint roll
|Perth Mint
|Brilliant uncirculated
|Jody Clark's latest effigy of Queen Elizabeth II and the words "Elizabeth II Australia 2019 1 Dollar" and the artist's initials
|A kookaburra at rest on a piece of wood protruding from the water, framed by the coins title, year, weight and purity.
|Jody Clark (obverse)


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Australian enduro racer Josh Carlson in a product testing session in Oregon on a prototype version of the Trance Advanced 27.5.
We got a sneak peek at some of the new 27.5 bikes from Giant back in April and Giant has now released all the bikes and information to the masses. What is most interesting is that Giant has jumped in with both feet and they are offering a ton of models in 27.5 including several in their Liv category (women's specific). With so many models from Giant and several recently announced from Trek, how much longer will the other big brands like Specialized and Cannondale hold out?
For 2014, Giant has both hardtails and full suspension bikes in 27.5 including: XtC Advanced 27.5, XtC 27.5, Anthem Advanced 27.5, Anthem 27.5, Trance Advanced 27.5, Trance 27.5 and Talon 27.5. Also new are the women's specific models: Obsess Advanced, Lust Advanced, Lust, Intrigue and Tempt.
Check out the official info below including their World Cup racing development and science behind the 27.5 line of bikes!
From the Manufacturer: Giant 27.5 Ride Without Limits.
The off-road world now has three wheel sizes from which to choose. Through extensive research and ride testing, Giant has thoroughly analyzed how each size performs under different riding styles and in varying conditions. Our findings show that mountain bikes with 27.5-inch wheels deliver superior performance without the compromises of 26 or 29-inch-wheel bikes. So to create the best off-road riding experience, Giant has fully committed its 2014 lineup to this superior technology.
Why 27.5?
There is a common misconception that the performance of 27.5 technology sits squarely in the middle between 26 and 29. But as our data reveals, 27.5 actually displays some of the best characteristics of 26 and 29—and it never measures out exactly in the middle.
When it comes to weight, 27.5 performs more like 26—it's light and agile. And for efficiency and control, it outperforms 29. Rather than introduce a single 27.5 model, as some of our competitors have, Giant is rolling out entirely new designs and engineering solutions to maximize the performance advantages of 27.5-inch wheels. Here's why:
27.5 Technology: 3 Reasons to Believe
1. Lighter Weight
- 27.5-inch wheels are only 5 percent heavier than 26-inch. By comparison, 29-inch wheels are 11 percent heavier than 26-inch.
- Overall weights of 27.5 bikes also trend closer to 26 than heavier 29 versions of the same series
Every rider experiences two types of weight affecting their ride: overall bike weight and rotational wheel weight. Here's a closer look at these two forces and how different wheel sizes alter the dynamics of your ride:
Overall Bike Weight
Compare the weights of identically equipped bikes with different wheel sizes and you'll see substantial weight differences. As expected, the 26-inch-wheel bike is somewhat lighter than the 27.5, and substantially lighter than the 29 (up to two pounds of overall bike weight savings from 29 to 27.5). Every gram saved helps you ride faster.
Wheel/Tire Weight
The overall weight of a 27.5 wheelset (wheel, tire and inner tube) is only 5% greater than that of an identically built 26-inch wheelset. Compare this to the 12% increase of a 29-inch wheelset and you can see how a seemingly small increase in diameter results in substantial weight gain—and poorer performance when climbing or accelerating.
Static Wheel Weight
Lighter wheels/tires result in quicker acceleration and lighter overall bike weight—a win-win combination.
2. More Efficient
- 27.5 wheels accelerate much like 26, outperforming the more sluggish feel of 29-inch wheels.
- 27.5 wheels roll over obstacles with much more control than 26. That translates into more efficient cornering, acceleration and braking capabilities.
Increased wheel diameter decreases the angle of attack (the angle in which a round object intersects a square object). This is a good thing. A 29-inch wheel rolls over a 6-centimeter square-edge obstacle 14% more efficiently than a 26-inch wheel does. In comparison, a 27.5-inch wheel rolls over the same obstacle 9.8% more efficiently than a 26-inch wheel does. Another way to analyze angle of attack is the degree of impact—where 26-inch equals X degree, 27.5 equals X-4 degrees and 29 equals X-6 degrees. Again, a shallower angle is better—so 29-inch takes the win, with 27.5 exhibiting nearly the same performance but without the weight penalty.
Arguably the most important benefit of 27.5 over 29 is quicker acceleration. This is the "snap" that a rider feels when they push hard on the pedals. It is affected not just by overall static weight but also where the weight is distributed throughout the wheel. The farther the weight is from the center of the hub, the slower the acceleration. So a similarly constructed 1000-gram 29-inch wheel is slower to accelerate than a 1000-gram 26-inch wheel—because the larger diameter rim and longer spokes place weight farther from the hub. The key to snappy acceleration is minimizing the weight of the outermost components (rim, nipples, spokes, tire, tube). As you can see, a 27.5-inch wheel is only 1.5% slower to accelerate than a similarly constructed 26-inch wheel, but a 29-inch wheel is 3.6% slower than a similarly constructed 26-inch wheel.
3. Better Control
- The larger the diameter of a wheel, the greater the contact patch of the tire. A larger contact patch results in better traction—which improves acceleration, deceleration and cornering. 27.5 wheels provide a contact patch that is similar to 29-inch wheels.
- The larger the wheel, the larger the frame dimensions must be—and that leads to unwanted flex. A flexing frame causes sloppy handling and slower acceleration under heavy power. A 27.5 frame flexes less than a 29 frame, resulting in better control.
The larger the diameter of a wheel, the greater the contact patch of the tire. A larger contact patch results in better traction, which leads to improved acceleration, deceleration and cornering. As you can see below, a 27.5-inch wheel has a similar contact patch to the 29.
Frame Stiffness
Lateral (side-to-side) frame stiffness can be affected by wheel size. To accommodate larger wheels, frame dimensions must be elongated. Therefore, a size medium 29-inch wheel frame has more lateral flex (bottom bracket and headtube) than a size medium 27.5- or 26-inch wheel frameset. Additional flex compromises handling under heavy pedaling or sharp cornering.
Frame Geometry
The larger the wheel, the more difficult it is to optimize geometry, especially on smaller frames. As the frame size decreases, headtube heights become higher (in relation to saddle height). On 26 or 27.5-inch frames, it's less of a problem, but geometry limitations can affect smaller 29-inch-wheel frames.
Continue reading for more information, specs, pricing and full photo gallery of the new 2014 Giant and Liv/giant 27.5 models.


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[Update: I mistakenly said that Dj CUTMAN was the organizer for this project. It was actually the staff of the VG music site Nobuwo. My bad.]
Rokko Chan was really something special, wasn't it? If you haven't played it or even heard of it, you should correct your mistake right now. It's a cute little Flash game that copies the Mega Man formula wholesale, only it changes names and locations "to protect the innocent." It could pass off as a direct sequel to the NES classics, but a few unexpected surprises are sprinkled throughout just to keep you on your toes.
One of the many highlights was the game's chiptune soundtrack, which can be downloaded for free. It's so spectacular that videogame audio site Nobuwo decided to organize a remix album and release it through the GameChops net label. Rokko Chan: Extended Play is an eight-track tribute -- the first track is actually pulled directly from the OST -- that rearranges the music in the same chiptune style.
Dj CUTMAN and Spamtron, who worked together on the Zelda II-themed Bagu and the Riverman, contribute one track, while other artists round up the lineup. One track is even produced by FantomenK, whose song "The Massacre" serves as the closing theme for Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'? Long story short, go and download the free album from Bandcamp as soon as you can!


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Are Lush brand solid perfumes any good?
Okay, I love a lot of Lush's products...particularly the hair-and-bath range. I like the solid shampoo and I also like the idea of solid perfume sticks. However the ones in my local branch don't seem to smell like anything. The last time I was in there, one of the girls put some on a card for me to sniff. I waited till I got home, thinking that maybe with all the smells in the shop I couldn't tell...but they smell like...not very much. Is it because the sticks are standing around uncovered?At those prices, I don't want to just buy some to experiment.
I actually find that the solid Lush perfumes are very pungent, especially my favorite Vanillary. They seem to last well as a solid perfume but if you put a ton on you might find your skin feeling a bit greasy. Overall I do like them and they last quite awhile. Also you don't have a chance of it spilling everywhere!
The ones I have tried so far are very good. Smell great and last a while. My favourite scent is love. Even though they smell strong they don't smell as strong as the sprays but they last a hell of a lot longer.
I highly recommend trying them out.


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It's your turn to suit up as the newest MIB recruit to eliminate the scum of the universe. Arm yourself with a full arsenal of iconic MIB weapons and head into the field with the mission to investigate and stop an evil alien plot to snatch up an ancient artifact that is the key to seizing control of the universe.
• 3rd Person Combat Tactics: Dodge and take cover as you battle hostile aliens in this action-packed, 3rd person rail shooter.
• Investigation and Interrogation: Players must obtain vital intelligence by examining locations and questioning suspects.
• Diverse and Customizable Weapons: Wield a full arsenal of official MIB weaponry from the Noisy Cricket to the Deatomizer and select from a full array of awesome firepower modes such as "Freeze Ray" and "Anti-Gravity Grenade."
• Multi-Player Battles: Challenge your friends and family to competitive split screen 2-player or up to 4-player "hot-seat" action!


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Critics Say Calif. Infertility Bill Violates Children's Rights
The president of Catholics for the Common Good says the practice of creating children from sperm and egg donors has consequences and is an injustice to the child.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California bill ensuring that health-care coverage for infertility treatments would be provided to same-sex couples is a violation of the basic human right for a mother and a father, critics charge.
"What we're concerned about is sperm and egg donation in general, for the purpose of creating children," Bill May, president of Catholics for the Common Good, told Catholic News Agency April 30.
He said the practice deprives these children of "knowing and being cared for by their mother or father or both. It's a violation of a fundamental human right, and it needs to be stopped."
The bill, AB-460, amends California statute to say that "coverage for the treatment of infertility shall be offered and provided without discrimination on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, domestic partner status, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation."
Health-insurance policies in the state must already offer coverage for infertility treatment, except for in vitro fertilization. The bill will mandate that insurance plans for infertility cover same-sex couples and the elderly.
California statute determines infertility either by a condition recognized by a physician as a cause of infertility or by "the inability to conceive a pregnancy or to carry a pregnancy to a live birth after a year or more of regular sexual relations without contraception."
Because California considers any inability to conceive after a year of "regular sexual relations" to be "infertility," no medical diagnosis is needed.
The bill has a hearing in the Committee on Health of the California State Assembly, the lower house of the legislature, on April 30. If passed, it will go to the Assembly floor and then to the Senate. The measure was authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democratic representative from San Francisco.
Ammiano introduced the bill because "insurance companies are not complying with current state law that prohibits patients from being treated differently based on sex, marital status and sexual orientation and current law that requires registered domestic partners to be treated as spouses in regard to fertility treatments," according to a fact sheet from the California Legislature.
Ammiano calls it discrimination that same-sex couples, even when the partners are physiologically fertile, not receive infertility coverage "based on not having an opposite sex married partner with whom to have one year of regular sexual relations."
Carlos Alcalá, a spokesman for Ammiano, told The Weekly Standard that, under the bill, "if a plan covers egg donation costs for a heterosexual couple unable to conceive without it, it would have to cover those costs for a gay male couple as well."
The Capitol Resource Institute opposes the bill, claiming it would violate the freedom of religion, conscience and thought of "many medical professionals and employers."
California's Catholic Conference also opposes the measure.
Existing legislation, which the bill does not meaningfully alter, ensures that employers and insurers who are or are owned by religious organizations would not have to offer forms of infertility treatment "in a manner inconsistent with the religious organization's religious and ethical principles."
May emphasized that the bill will contribute to the conception of children who are alienated from their biological parents and that every child has a right to know and be cared for by his parents.
"This practice turns children into commodities, into objects for the fulfillment of adults," he said.
"This practice, of creating children from sperm and egg donors, has consequences. It's an injustice to the child, depriving them of a fundamental human right."


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A comment from Meade, on a post from a few days ago, responding to one Kwach, who had trouble understanding what I was saying about Obama and the concept of eating what you're told. She said:
Because a young boy was exposed to a foreign culture (including unusual food) and didn't balk at trying it, he grew up to be ... what? Someone who has no will? And then he married a woman who would tell him and all the children in America what to eat... Does this childhood lack of will extend to anyone who spends time in a foreign country and doesn't refuse to try the local cuisine, or is it possible that some people eat things I wouldn't dream of (escargot and goat meat, for instance) not because they are mindless automatons but because they're open-minded or even curious? Is it possible that some children are open-minded and curious? Or even obedient to their parents, as we say they should be?Read my post again Kwach. I didn't say that Obama had/has no will. I said that as an author he willfully deprived us of any words on the subject of his will. He says nothing about the degree of compulsion he felt when he "learned" from Lolo "how to eat." Our erstwhile law professor was a student, taking instruction. We don't know how he felt. He keeps that from us. And now, as President, is he a will-less instructor? Does government coerce or does it merely teach... with more or less persuasive incentives... nudges if you


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Every Sunday afternoon I jump on Twitter to check in with a small group of super smart, cool moms I know and we chat about… batch cooking. It's hot stuff, right? But what these moms know and I've learned is that somehow an hour spent making a couple of things on Sundays (muffins, tomato sauce, mini-quiche) translates into a soul's salvation during a hectic work week. Like, these meatloaves. You could absolutely make them in a regular loaf pan but I like to do them in either these mini tins or even muffin tins. They freeze well and then you only have to take out as many as you need on any given night. It's a perfect, cozy meal for a chilly fall night.
Turkey Meatloaf with Apples and Sage
1 ½ Tbsp butter 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
2 firm apples (like Gala) peeled, cored and sliced into small chunks 2/3 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
2/3 cup milk
2 lbs ground turkey
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup + 1 Tbsp apple butter (extra is for topping)
2 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped 1 tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil your loaf pan or muffin tins.
In a medium-sized skillet over medium heat, add the butter, garlic and shallots. Allow the the vegetables to soften, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Stir together apple chunks, breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl and allow the mixture to soak for about 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey and mix well. Now add the whisked egg and the garlic, shallot mixture. Stir in ¼ cup of apple butter, sage, salt and pepper. Make sure everything is mixed together really well.
Spoon the meat mixture into your loaf tin or muffin tins. Pop them in the oven for about 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. In the last minute of cooking, brush the tops with that last bit of apple butter. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before you serve.


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Statement of Purpose: The AbbyColby Crossings Chamber of Commerce is committed to improving the communities of Abbotsford, Colby, Dorchester, Unity, Curtiss, and Milan. Our goals are to strengthen the civic, cultural, recreational and educational choices for everyone. We actively seek expansion of business and industry to enhance the choices for you and your family. Our mission is to provide a better place for you to live and work.
We believe that our community is a great place to live and work and welcome you to join us in the mission to ensure a solid future for our community.
Please check our calendar for updates to all area events. If you have an event you want to to post on the community calendar, please call – ACC Chamber office – (715) 223-8509 or email to email@example.com.
AbbyColby Crossings Chamber of Commerce
100 W Spruce St, PO Box 418
Abbotsford WI 54405
Upcoming Events
New Members


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VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) Marshall Bjorklund scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds and North Dakota State shot nearly 64 percent from the field in a 92-66 win over South Dakota on Thursday night.
Bjorklund sparked an 8-0 run to begin the game with two quick lay-ups and North Dakota State (12-3, 3-0 Summit) never looked back. The Bison shot 63.8 percent from the field, making 37 of 58 attempts including 10 3-pointers and out-rebounded the Coyotes 32-20.
North Dakota State dominated inside the paint, outscoring South Dakota 46-22.
Taylor Braun scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half for the Bison, Mike Felt had 15 points while hitting five 3-pointers and Jordan Aaberg had 12 points.
Casey Kasperbauer led South Dakota (6-9, 2-1) with 15 points by hitting five 3-pointers and Brandon Bos scored 14 points.
The two teams combined to hit 19 shots from beyond the arc.


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Retail Cosmetics Sales - Beauty Advisor Estee Lauder/Clinique, Part Time: Spotsylvania Town Center
- Employer
- Macy's
- Location
- Fredericksburg, VA
- Posted
- Sep 15, 2019
- Closes
- Sep 17, 2019
- Ref
- 336378011
- Function
- Retail Sales Associate, Sales
- Industry
- Other
- Career Level
- Experienced (Non-Manager)
- Hours
- Full Time
Job Overview:With a role in the Macy's Cosmetics Department, you will have the opportunity to help others look their best every day. You'll make one-on-one connections with customers to learn their sense of beauty and style, develop your artistic side through customer consultation and make-up and product application, and attain a sense of accomplishment when your skills combine with your passion for beauty to reach personal and team sales goals. Previous cosmetics experience is nice to have, but is not required to begin a career in beauty at Macy's. Performs other duties as assigned. The summary below may not include all the essential functions and qualifications for this position. For more information, we encourage you to review the complete job description by clicking here.Macy's uses a scheduling plan that allows our associates to participate in the creation of their work schedules by managing availability and identifying preferences. Additionally, during key events and peak selling times, Macy's may offer additional shifts to our associates, which they maypick up using the self-scheduling tool. Details on Macy's schedule options are available during the interview process. Essential Functions:Assist customers in all aspects of service fulfillment by demonstrating proficient use of proprietary devices and applications; proactively create enhanced shopping experiences through the heightened use of tools, technology and collaborationPartner with Sales Manager and Counter Manager to identify business driving opportunities and stock needs Develop a repeat-business customer base in order to regularly communicate: upcoming events, new merchandise receipts and product replenishment to increase incremental salesParticipate in pre-selling and sales driving events as well as processing of new receipts, damages, testers, and return to vendors (RTVs)Attend product training classes and seminars Regular, dependable attendance & punctualityQualifications:Education /ExperienceHigh school diploma or equivalent. Previous cosmetic or fragrance sales experience a plusCommunication SkillsAbility to read, write, and interpret labels including warnings and ingredient lists on products. Abilityto effectively communicate with and present information to customers, vendors, buyers, peers, and all levels of management Mathematical SkillsBasic math functions such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Able to use a calculator. Must be able to calculate percentages and ratios. Must be able to make change using American Monetary units. Other SkillsSuperior organizational and time management skills. Must be able to build relationships andinfluence others. Ability to set and achieve goals. Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment. Must possess a strong sense of urgency and a thirst for knowledge. Must be able to lead by example.Work HoursFlexible with scheduling and available to work retail hours, which may include day, evening, weekends, and/or holidays, based on department and store/company needs. This job description is not all inclusive. In addition, Macy's, Inc. reserves the right to amend this job description at any time. Macy's, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment.


text: Onda is a Boulder based spin off brand of a company that designs hard shell spare tire covers for SUVs and automotive arm rests. They launched at Interbike 2011 with their bike trunks and trailers. Very attractive. The trunks lock for somewhat secure storage of your goodies, and also have a quick release so you read more


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Investors like a zen LululemonDecember 6, 2012: 1:21 PM ET
Investors are rewarding athletic apparel maker Lululemon (LULU) for remaining zen.
The company, known for its fashionable yoga pants, beat analyst expectations with its third quarter profits and revenues. The only hiccup: guidance. The company said it expects sales to grow in the high single digits in the fourth quarter. That's good for most retailers but points to a slowdown for Lululemon.
Investors didn't seem too worried about a slowdown. The stock traded up more than 4% Thursday. And several traders on StockTwits admired the company's conservatism.
Mind you, given multiple, $LULU needs to keep expectations in check. Under-promise, over-deliver & keep multiple up... Trick from $RL book
If they bully $LULU today on conservative guidance, I probably buy. Got your back, girl.
Even with a slowdown in sales, Lululemon still looks good to many investors once they look around at other brands and retailers.
$LULU only retail with higher sales than their $1900/square foot is AAPL
While Apple (AAPL) may not be the ideal comparison this week, a hot brand is a hot brand. Longer-term what could really help the company's growth prospect is the emerging male yogi. More men in Lululemon's yoga pants? A new clientele.
$LULUcall: mens Q3 12% of overall sales, comps very similar with womens


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Taiyaki wrote:The site went down again a few days ago. Did Lazyhelix have to take it down?
I'm not sure but I found a similar thread on Shining Force Central, and someone provided a link to download the files to view the info. https://forums.shiningforcecentral.com/ ... 3&start=40 They are in .chm format, from what I gather Windows comes pre-supported with it in a web browser, Mac users can download iChm: http://download.cnet.com/iChm/3000-2094_4-10878883.html (Mac is my main OS, so if any Windows users have different claims, please do post.) interestingly there is a page on Dragon Force that was not accessible from the main page.


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Thursday, November 05, 2009
No banal chatter day
BBC Radio Scotland is having its annual 'no music day' on November 21st, which is the day before Benjamin Britten's birthday. 'No music day' is an interesting concept, but I have a better idea. BBC Scotland's sister network BBC Radio 3 should have a 'no presenter day' when they play music without the classical jocks in between. I guarantee Radio 3's audience will increase by at least one on November 21st if they take up my suggestion.
Header image is sampled from Binghampton Review. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
11 comments:
- Philip Amos said...
An excellent idea, Pliable. I shall myself be having my usual 'No BBC 3 At All Day'. I live in exile in Canada so I'm used to this -- I've been having 'No CBC 2 Day' every day for a dog's age.
It is easy. I have, courtesy of one website (classicalwebsite.com) access to some 150 or so classical radio stations around the world just a click away. A wee while ago, a quick tour of selected ports of call revealed Finzi and Byrd about to come from Oslo, Granados coming from Helsinki, Beethoven G major piano concerto in concert from Athens, Schumann's Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra in concert from Holland via Hong Kong, Bruch from Coorparoo (Queensland, as you asked), Telemann from Bogata, Mozart piano trios in concert from Rome. Sufficient to get the general idea thereof.
There are some duff ones -- those with ads, those that play movements ripped from the whole, some with unreliable links, -- but not many, and I've got a list of crackerjack stations without ads, without fatuous gabble, without stories about Aunt Mabel's cat and the Mahler symphony, without Petrock Trelawney.
Obviously, I'm glossing over the fact that I don't actually know what the hell is being said on most of these stations, but it is a striking thing that so many in all parts do little more than announce the music and performer(s) before playing the music and again after. If there is more than that and in a language I know or I can grasp the gist of, it is invariably, on the stations I go to, intelligent stuff indeed. The only station I know that condescends, cheapens and goes for the LCD as BBC 3 does is CBC 2, which is now beyond hope. The ABC and NZBC have not gone the same route -- or not to such a degree, though I detect a little pandering in Oz -- and I find that very interesting. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, however, the explanation is that they take their music very seriously. Bend an ear to stations in South America and one is reminded of El Sistema or the reception Arrau got when he returned to Chile after Pinochet's departure. To people in other parts, music is important and there is no trifling with it.
- 1:02 pm
- Pliable said...
'I'm glossing over the fact that I don't actually know what the hell is being said on most of these stations' ...
Yes, that also applies to BBC Radio 3 as far as I am concerned.
On a more cheerful note, why do I have so many readers in Canada? I never really thought of Canadians as being bolshie by nature. But then they have produced a disproportionately large number of very fine musiicans.
- 2:29 pm
- Pliable said...
An excellent follow-up to my post from composer Daniel Wolf -
- 2:45 pm
- Pliable said...
Email received:
It's interesting they chose November 21. The 22nd is St. Cecilia's Day.
As for not listening to CBC Radio 2: count me in. I haven't listened (with one exception) to it since the day I left in 1998!
David Cavlovic
- 3:40 pm
- Pliable said...
David, as well as being St Cecilia's day, November 22 is the birthday of Benjamin Britten, Jacob Obrecht Wilhelm Friedmann Bach, Joaquin Rodrigo and a certain blogger.
- 3:43 pm
- Philip Amos said...
Huge thanks for alerting me to Daniel Wolf's blog, now bookmarked.
I'm a Londoner transplanted to a place not far from Vancouver, and in the general way of things I think the common observation that Canadians are a passive lot, perhaps dangerously so at times, is accurate. But they also have a tendency to the passive-agressive mode which amounts to very thinly veiled criticism of things they don't like, e.g., the United States for most of them.
When CBC 2 was eviscerated the criticism wasn't veiled at all, but it did no good. The station had already been reduced to programmes mostly of inane twittering reluctantly interrupted by short pieces of music or movements. Now it has been further diminished by resricting classical music to a few hours on weekdays only, except for Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and the Sunday morning Choral Concert, and the much-esteemed and truly knowledgeable hosts of those two programmes have been replaced by the same sort of twitterers and cream-faced loons who make the weekday programmes unendurable. The rest of the broadcasting time is taken up with folk, ethnic, jazz, world, to reflect the diversity of blether, blether, blether.
Canada has produced some very fine musicians, but, my word, when it comes to broadcasting classical music it must be very close to the bottom of the league. This is one area in which the US puts us to shame.
- 3:44 pm
- Pliable said...
'The station had already been reduced to programmes mostly of inane twittering reluctantly interrupted by short pieces of music or movements.'
Again that sounds very familiar.
- 4:06 pm
- Pliable said...
Email received:
I am proud and honoured to say that the two main shows I worked on at the CBC, from 1988-1992, was Choral Concert, and Saturday Afternoon At The Opera.
Alas, even today, these shows do not have the same presence as they did in bygone days….
David Cavlovic
- 6:07 pm
- Drew80 said...
It's too bad you have to pay that ridiculous annual licensing fee, Pliable, because otherwise you could simply laugh off the BBC and ignore it entirely.
I do not know radio listening patterns and habits in the U.S., but I suspect our radio audience is very, very small and destined to continue to shrink.
I say this for three reasons: (1) I know no one who listens to radio, ever; (2) radio stations for sale in U.S. markets have commanded ever-lower prices for the last decade as profitable stations have become fewer and fewer in number; and (3) U.S. television viewing has collapsed over the last thirty years, which would suggest that radio listening has collapsed, too.
A Pew survey from a couple of years ago claimed that fewer than thirty per cent of educated U.S. males watched television—and I suspect that the thirty per cent figure would be pretty representative for radio as well.
- 8:18 pm
- Pliable said...
'It's too bad you have to pay that ridiculous annual licensing fee'
Amen to that.
Drew, do you think anyone in the States might want to buy the BBC? We would accept a very low price just to be rid of it.
- 8:23 pm
- Drew80 said...
I don't think so, Pliable--U.S. media companies are in financial distress right now, selling off assets left and right and laying off personnel in huge numbers.
In fact, several U.S. media companies are currently engaged in bankruptcy proceedings, and that number is expected to grow.
- 8:30 pm


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HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- In what organizers called an unprecedented event, dissidents from groups opposed to Fidel Castro's communist regime gathered publicly Friday and chanted "Down with Fidel."
"Freedom! Freedom!" the group of more than 100 delegates cheered in the yard of Felix Bonne, a veteran dissident, in a working-class section of Havana. Castro's regime would not allow the use of a theater or hotel for the assembly.
Participants included members of dissident groups that are sometimes at odds but share the goal of driving Castro from power.
"We think this is the first democratic assembly that has ever been held in Cuba," said organizer and former political prisoner Marta Beatriz Roque of the rare public display of opposition.
Still, some opposition groups refused to take part, saying the event was backed by Miami-based exile groups that support violence.
A U.S. diplomat brought a videotaped message from U.S. President George Bush, who congratulated attendees on their courage and efforts to build democracy.
The two-day Assembly to Promote Civil Society started on the date that, until the 1959 Revolution that put Castro in power, was celebrated as Cuba's Independence Day.
A few dozen foreign observers attended, including James Cason, chief of mission of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. There were also representatives of the European Union and the Japanese, Polish, Czech, and Canadian embassies.
Organizers had been concerned Cuban police would prevent the meeting from happening.
Well-known dissident Oswaldo Paya of the pro-democracy Varela Project refused to take part, calling the meeting "a fraud against the opposition" organized by "extremists whose movement has in the past been infiltrated and influenced by Cuban State Security agents."
No government authorities were known to be on hand and there was no blatant police presence in the neighborhood, but government spies do regularly infiltrate dissident meetings.
Cuban authorities blocked some international observers from attending. Two Polish European Union deputies who tried to enter the country Tuesday were turned back, and four Polish journalists who planned to attend were detained Friday, the Polish Embassy in Havana said.
Also, Thursday night, Cuba expelled a Czech senator and a German deputy who had been in the country for five days and were planning to attend the meeting. Czech Sen. Karel Schwarzenberg and German Christian Democratic parliament member Arnold Vaatz told CNN they were directed to get on an Air France flight to Paris.
Some participants Friday expressed surprise that the meeting took place at all.
The group called for government reforms and popular involvement in government decision-making. The dissidents also vowed to build relations among civic groups and to "rescue" lost values and traditions.
In papers handed out to media and others, the group said it agreed the meeting was a "big step forward" in the 46-year struggle to get out from under Castro's leadership.
Organizers are hoping more than 350 dissident groups would be represented at the meeting by the time it ends Saturday.
On Tuesday the U.S. Senate passed a resolution "extending its support and solidarity to the participants of the historic meeting" and "urging the international community to support the assembly and its mission to bring democracy and human rights to Cuba." The U.S. Treasury Department granted travel licenses to anti-Castro Cuban-Americans who want to attend.
Cuba accuses assembly organizers of being "mercenaries in the pay of the U.S.A.," a charge they strongly deny. "We have funded the assembly with donations from our brothers and sisters in the exile community. None of the $25,000 we have received comes from the U.S. government," said dissident Rene Gomez Manzano.
Asked by CNN to comment on the planned assembly, Castro said, "Those who attack us don't represent more than a fraction of 1 percent. ... You (the foreign news media) have helped create them."
Many wives of Cuban political prisoners did not attend the meeting, saying they feared it would be "provocative" and counter-productive.
CNN Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman contributed to this report.


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These are things Anatomy will help you think about and choose wisely – without ever leaving your Options page.


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U.S. Senate candidate Angus King speaks with News 8
Commitment 2012 Coverage
There's no question that Angus King's candidacy has been a driving force in Maine's U.S. Senate race.
From the start, polls have showed that the 68-year-old former governor has a big lead.
"There's an advantage and a disadvantage from running ahead," King tells News 8 in his Brunswick home. "The advantage is: you're running ahead. The disadvantage is: you're everybody's target!"
The independent candidate has been pounded by the left and the right.
He's in the middle because he refuses to say which way he'll lean if he's elected.
He believes his unpredictability would be his advantage in Washington.
King tells us, "If I announce today I'm going to caucus with the Republicans or I'm going to caucus with the Democrats, then I've given away the bargaining power that I can use on behalf of Maine. You don't walk into a car dealer and say, 'I'm willing to pay $20,000 for this car but I'm going to start at $16,000. What's the point?"
Voters know King and his folksy demeanor from the eight years he spent leading Maine.
He was governor during a time of national economic prosperity but insists he did more than just ride that wave.
"When I came into office, Maine was 43rd in the country in the rate of job creation," he says. "When I left office, we were 23rd. That's pretty cool because what that says to me is: something we were doing was making a difference in Maine."
King's opponents have hammered him on his record in Augusta.
They accuse him of turning a $300 million budget surplus into a $1 billion budget deficit.
"It's unconstitutional to have a deficit budget in Maine," King tells us.
He says that most of the recent state budgets in Maine have started with what he calls "structural gaps" that represent how much the state would have to pay if it fully funded every program - something that rarely happens.
King says, "It's the beginning process of our budget system and to say it's a deficit is simply not true."
Angus King insists this political fight doesn't have him on his heels and he hopes that the millions of dollars pouring into Maine from outside groups with anonymous donors won't stop him from winning this race.
He tells us, "It would be really nice if in Karl Rove's little cave in Washington they sit around and say, 'Gee - we spent all of this money in Maine and it didn't work. Maybe the negative ads strategy isn't all that effective.' Man, that would be a great result!"
King's opponents are quick to point out that he's being help from outside money too.
Most recently and most notably, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent $500,000 to helped King's campaign.


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If you will need specific accommodations (sign language interpreters, escorts, or accessible seating, etc.) for the ceremony, you may indicate this when you complete your Application for Graduation. Should you need to update this information, please contact the Disability Services for Students office at 940-898-3835 or firstname.lastname@example.com at least one week prior to the commencement ceremonies.
Guests with Disabilities: We have floor seating appropriate for individuals with disabilities and staff at each entrance to the arena will be available to assist these guests with seating accommodations. Guests with disabilities may be dropped off at the North entrance to Pioneer Hall.
Page last updated 2:59 PM, March 6, 2017


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The Regime's efforts to scare the country and its representatives in Congress assembled into caving to demands for telecom immunity are falling flat. This is not to say that the propaganda effort is diminishing in any way. In fact, universally throughout the mainstream news media, the issue is formulated precisely as Bob Orr did on the CBS Evening News last night (via C & L):
BOB ORR: At issue is whether or not telecommunications companies like Verizon and AT&T should be protected from lawsuits when they help the government tap conversations of suspected foreign terrorists - when those calls and emails are routed through the U.S.
When, as C & L, and most of the Lefty Blogosphere points out, that's not the issue at all.
Via C & L again:
Actually, the issue is whether retroactive immunity will be granted to telecoms so they can't be sued by Americans, for illegally participating in wiretapping American citizens in America.
That's about as simple and straightforward a statement of the Issue as it is possible to get, and yet, to date, not one mainstream news outlet has been able to say it that way.
It's so bad that the other day, as reported by Glenn Greenwald, John King, experienced political reporter at CNN, had Adm. Mike McConnell, Director of Intelligence, on to discuss the issue and stated:
KING: To most Americans out there, and to a guy like me who's spent most of his time, in the past several months, out covering a presidential campaign, this is highly detailed stuff that's pretty hard to follow.
No. It's not. It never has been "hard to follow." This question at issue is whether or not the Congress will provide immunity to large corporations that broke the law and spied on Americans without warrants or court supervision of any kind for several years.
The Senate has voted to provide that immunity. The House has voted not to.
The resolution is to be found in conference committee. Nearly every observer assumes that the conference committee will provide partial or full retroactive immunity to the telecoms, and that by doing so, the governmental interests who conspired or colluded to induce the telecoms to perform these illegal acts of domestic surveillance will be shielded from investigation or culpability.
The issue has NEVER, EVER been about whether telecoms should be immunized from suits over spying on calls from or to suspected terrorists. Immunity for following lawful government orders is already provided. The problem is that the orders (or "requests") were not lawful and following them was not lawful; further, so far as anyone can suss out, the surveillance was never limited (and so far as we know, is not now limited) to "terrorists." Essentially all domestic and foreign communication is potential fodder for warrantless surveillance, making moot the 4th Amendment to the Constitution.
But nowhere in the mainstream media -- with the odd exception, such as when a "critic" is allowed to speak, briefly, on the topic, or when Keith Olbermann focuses on it -- is the issue accurately described, even though the fearmongering of the White House, the intelligence agency heads, and Republicans in Congress has been almost entirely repudiated.
Propaganda is universal.
Stalin is smiling.


text:
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The new appliance will power CSN's business analytics platform to monitor trends related to profitability, customer satisfaction, customer retention, order fulfillment and supply chain. The company will use the data to drive organic growth initiatives and discover new ways to better serve their customers.
With a network of over 250 award-winning online retail stores including, AllModern.com, Luggage.com, Cookware.com, BedroomFurniture.com and Strollers.com, CSN sells over two million products – everything from toys, tools, and toasters to furniture, fitness gear, and flooring – offering unparalleled selection, service and savings to more than seven million visitors each month from the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Germany.
Because CSN Stores is on an aggressive growth plan, the company required a solution that provides scalability well into the future. With the IBM Netezza appliance, CSN is able to go beyond the capabilities of its legacy data warehouse and answer questions in seconds or minutes that previously took hours or days.
"We evaluated a variety of vendors, but the IBM Netezza team exceeded our expectations during the evaluation process," said Steven Conine, CSN Stores' Chairman and Co-Founder. "They demonstrated the best price/performance, simplicity and formula for success making them the obvious choice."
In keeping with CSN's tradition of naming every computer in its network after an animal, the e-retailer named the TwinFin appliance, "Swift," after the fastest bird in the world.
"The name is very symbolic for us," said Ed Macri, Vice President of Advertising and Business Intelligence at CSN Stores. "We are a very data-driven company and need to make information available to the business faster to drive decision-making. We were experiencing performance issues with our legacy BI platform and were looking to speed up our ability to crunch through and analyze the vast amounts of new data we generate daily."
"CSN Stores' next-generation analytics platform allows for new opportunities to access, integrate and analyze business data," said Jim Kelly, IBM Netezza's General Manager of Retail. "The combination of refining vast amounts of data with sophisticated modeling provides a technical backbone for long-term growth that only IBM can provide."
About CSN Stores, LLC
Based in Boston, Mass., CSN Stores, LLC (www.csnstores.com) is comprised of 250+ online stores offering unparalleled selection, great customer service and significant savings. CSN Stores is the third-largest online retailer of home goods. The privately owned company offers more than 2 million products from 4,000 brands and serves customers in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. Select CSN Stores include: AllModern.com, Cookware.com, Strollers.com, CSNBaby.com, Luggage.com, RacksAndStands.com, CookwareByCSN.co.uk and many, many more.
About Netezza
Netezza, an IBM Company and a global leader in data warehouse, analytic and monitoring appliances that dramatically simplify high-performance analytics across an extended enterprise. Netezza's technology enables organizations to process enormous amounts of captured data at exceptional speed, providing a significant competitive and operational advantage in today's data-intensive industries, including digital media, energy, financial services, government, health and life sciences, retail and telecommunications. For more information about Netezza, please visit www.netezza.com.
For Information on Demand and IBM Information Management, please visit: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/information-on-demand/
For more information on IBM Business Analytics, please visit the online press kit: http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/27163.wss
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Netezza®, TwinFin® and the Netezza 'N' logo are registered trademarks of Netezza Corporation. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.


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text:
Back to the Basics
For some reason, many of our questions seem to be focused on an effort to gain a better understanding of the principles behind an E-coat system. I've recently been engaged in an interesting e-mail dialogue with one reader in particular. Following is a recap of our discussion.
Perhaps it's a sign of the times. Perhaps it's the state of the economy. For some reason, many of our questions seem to be focused on an effort to gain a better understanding of the principles behind an E-coat system. I've recently been engaged in an interesting e-mail dialogue with one reader in particular. Following is a recap of our discussion.
For crediting purposes, I refer you to one of my favorite resources: Electrocoating—A Guidebook for Finishers, published by The E-coat Association. To order a copy, go to electrocoat.org.
Featured Content
E-coat, a New Responsibility
Q. Lyle, our company makes stamped parts of various sizes for large trucks and farm equipment. I'm a mechanical engineer and have been working in the design group for 16 years. Until a couple of months ago I had never seen an E-coat system. We recently took over a plant that has an E-coat system that's been shut down for almost a year. As a downsizing move, I've been assigned responsibility for the reincarnation of this system, which I think has been in the plant for about 14 years and is starting to act its age. Our entire team is made up of people who have been assigned to this operation from other stamping functions, so we all have a lot of learning to do. I've read several articles about E-coat applications and installations, but I seem to generate more questions than answers.
If I e-mail you my questions, although they might seem pretty basic, will you be able to answer them right away? J.A.M
A. I can certainly sympathize with your situation. We're always looking for input in the way of questions from people in situations just like yours. Just as I have done with this question, I will get back to you as soon as my schedule permits with an initial answer via e-mail before re-writing the answer for publication. So, go ahead. Fire away!
Purpose of Ultrafiltration
Q. Thanks Lyle. I've had some past involvement with liquid immersion coating systems and I think I understand the basics of pretreatment. Now I am trying to understand how E-coat is different and how it works. For starters, could you tell me about the purpose of the ultrafiltration system? J.A.M.
A. The ultrafiltration system is a key part of the E-coat process. It has two main purposes. First, it controls the level of soluble contaminants in the paint bath. These can come from dragout as parts come through the pretreatment baths. Second, when the paint is electrodeposited onto the part substrate, there are some particles not completely attached. This system provides the means to rinse those off.
If there was no way to purge the paint bath of soluble contaminants, they would accumulate and cause the bath to become unstable. The ultrafiltration system is what enables recovery and recycling of the undeposited paint particles and helps make E-coat such an efficient process. It also reduces hazardous waste disposal.
The Ultrafiltration Difference
Q. What makes the ultrafiltration system different from ordinary filter systems? And what is meant by the term "permeate?" J.A.M.
A. In conventional filtration, flow is perpendicular to filter media. That is, flow is passed directly through filter media and is not always pressure-driven. Ultrafiltration is pressure-driven, and the flow goes across or over the surface of the filter media. That way water and very small particles are forced through the filter media. The crossflow carries larger particles away and keeps the filter from becoming clogged for a considerable period of time. What comes out the other side is called permeate because this is what "permeates" through the filter. A conventional filter collects the larger particles more rapidly, which makes it clog faster and require frequent cleaning.
What is Flux?
Q. I keep seeing the term "flux." What does it mean in the context of an E-coat system? J.A.M.
A. That question seems to come up a lot in training sessions. Here is how it is explained in the Electrocoating guide book: "The rate of permeate flow from a full-scale ultrafilter is usually indicated by a flow meter and is expressed in units of gallons per minute. The rate of permeate flow per unit membrane area is termed flux. Flux is used for sizing purposes. It can also be used to normalize and compare the permeate output from membranes of different areas and configurations."
Flux Rate and Cleaning the System
Q. I also read where flux is used as an indicator for the need to clean the ultrafiltration system. What would be meant by that? J.A.M.
A. That is correct. Even though the pores of the filter media do not clog up as fast in an ultrafilter system, they do get clogged up some as they are used. As this happens, the flux rate will drop. The ultrafilter system should be cleaned before the flux drops to 70% of the rate of a clean system. If the rate drops below that 70% level there is a possibility the cleaning function becomes much more difficult. A second cleaning could be required to regain a desirable flux rate.
Cleaning of the ultrafilter system should be part of your preventive maintenance program. During slow periods of the year, transfer your E-coat to a holding tank so you can clean up the paint tank and perform maintenance on it. That is also the ideal time to clean your ultrafilter system. As I recall, a couple of cleanings per year was effective.
Ultrafilter Cleaning Procedure
Q. One of our tech reps mentioned the cleaning requirement. We found part of an operating manual for the system but we have not found any procedure for ultrafilter cleaning. Do you have any procedure or guidelines? J.A.M.
A. Here's a copy of the general procedure we developed for the Electrocoating guide book: Most cleaning procedures involve the following steps: 1)Stop paint feed to ultrafilter system. 2) Displace paint from ultrafilter system to paint tank. 3)Rinse ultrafilter system with de-ionized water. 4) Prepare cleaning solution 5) Heat cleaning solution (if required). 6) Circulate cleaning solution. 7) After cleaning, send cleaning solution to drain. 8) Rinse ultrafilter system with de-ionized water 9)Store or go back on-line with paint. 10) Upon startup, send permeate to drain for a few minutes before sending to the rinse system. This might not be all you need to know about the procedure, but it should give you a framework to start from.
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